| Primetime Emmy Award for Original Music and Lyrics | |
| Awarded For: | Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics |
| Presenter: | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
| Country: | United States |
| Holder: | Ted Lasso, "A Beautiful Game" (2023) |
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. It is awarded to the best original song or score created specifically for a television program. The award was first presented in 2000 and has since become a prestigious honor in the television industry. The nominees are judged based on their creativity, originality, and contribution to the overall quality of the program. The award recognizes the importance of music and lyrics in television, and the impact they have on the audience's emotional connection to the show.
The award has gone by several names:
| Year | Program | Song | Composer / Lyricist | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 [1] | Love, American Style | ABC | ||
| Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In | Billy Barnes (music & lyrics) | NBC | ||
| Spoon River |
| CBS | ||
| 1971 [2] | The First Nine Months Are the Hardest | NBC | ||
| The Dean Martin Show | Lee Hale | NBC | ||
| The Name of the Game |
| |||
| Pure Goldie | Billy Barnes | |||
| 1972 [3] | The Funny Side | Ray Charles (music & lyrics) | NBC | |
| Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In | Billy Barnes | CBS | ||
| The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour | Earl Brown | |||
| 1973 [4] | Liza with a Z | NBC | ||
| The Marcus-Nelson Murders | "Don't Give Me a Road I Can't Walk" | CBS | ||
| The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour | "The Gloria Majestic Story" | Earl Brown | ||
| 1974 [5] | Ironside | "Light My Way" | NBC | |
| The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman | "The Love That Lights Our Way" | CBS | ||
| Kojak | ||||
| 1975 [6] | Queen of the Stardust Ballroom | CBS | ||
| Cher |
| CBS | ||
| Chico and the Man | Theme | NBC | ||
| Police Woman | Theme | |||
| Shirley MacLaine: If They Could See Me Now |
| CBS | ||
| 1976 [7] | The Carol Burnett Show | "Cinderella Gets It On!" |
| CBS |
| Gypsy in My Soul |
| CBS | ||
| 1977 [8] [9] | America Salutes Richard Rodgers: The Sound of His Music | CBS | ||
| An Evening with Diana Ross | NBC | |||
| How the West Was Won | Theme | ABC | ||
| Minstrel Man | "Early in the Morning" |
| CBS | |
| Police Woman | "Leave Me Tomorrow" |
| NBC | |
| 1978 | Outstanding Achievement in Special Music Material[10] | |||
| The Carol Burnett Show | "Hi-Hat" |
| CBS | |
| The Sentry Collection Presents Ben Vereen: His Roots | "See You Tomorrow in Class" |
| ABC | |
| Donny & Marie | "Leading Lady" | Earl Brown | ABC | |
| Poldark (Masterpiece Theatre) | Theme | Kenyon Emrys-Roberts | PBS | |
| "Until the Music Ends" |
| NBC | ||
| Outstanding Achievement in Coverage of Special Events - Individuals[11] [12] | ||||
| The 50th Annual Academy Awards | "Look How Far We've Come" | ABC | ||
| Year | Program | Song | Composer / Lyricist | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Special Events[13] [14] | |||
| The 52nd Annual Academy Awards | "Dancin' on the Silver Screen" | ABC | ||
| 1981 [15] | Linda in Wonderland | "This Is My Night" |
| CBS |
| All Commercials... A Steve Martin Special | "Truman Capote Jeans" | Earl Brown | NBC | |
| Perry Como's Christmas in the Holy Land | "The City of Tradition" | ABC | ||
| Homeward Bound | "Home" | CBS | ||
| The Way They Were | "In the Beginning" |
| Syndicated | |
| 1982 [16] | Shirley MacLaine... Illusions | "On the Outside Looking In" | CBS | |
| Advice to the Lovelorn | "If This is Love" | NBC | ||
| The Gift of Life | "Just a Little More Love" | CBS | ||
| The Greatest American Hero | "Dreams" | ABC | ||
| Night of 100 Stars | "What's Your Line?" | Kohan | ABC | |
| Walt Disney... One Man's Dream | "Marceline" |
| CBS | |
| 1983 [17] | Two of a Kind (GE Theater) | "We'll Win This World" | CBS | |
| The 55th Annual Academy Awards | "And It All Comes Down to This" | ABC | ||
| Bare Essence | "In Finding You, I Found Love" | CBS | ||
| Cheers | "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" | NBC | ||
| Happy Endings | Theme Song |
| CBS | |
| Quincy, M.E. | "Quincy's Wedding Song" | NBC | ||
| Suzanne Somers... and 10,000 G.I.'s | "We're Not So Dumb" |
| CBS | |
| 1984 [18] | Here's Television Entertainment | "Gone Too Soon" | NBC | |
| Burnett Discovers Domingo | "No Time Now" |
| CBS | |
| Fame | "I Still Believe In Me" |
| Syndicated | |
| Fame | "Whatever Happened to the Heroes?" |
| ||
| Two Marriages | "Home Here" | ABC | ||
| 1985 [19] | Love Lives On | "Wildflower" & "Lullaby" |
| NBC |
| Disneyland's 30th Anniversary Celebration | "Thank You (For Thirty Happy Years)" |
| NBC | |
| Moonlighting | "Moonlighting" | ABC | ||
| Motown Returns to the Apollo | "Tall, Tan, and Teasing" |
| NBC | |
| 1986 [20] | Andy Williams and the NBC Kids Search for Santa | "My Christmas Wish" | NBC | |
| All-Star Party for "Dutch" Reagan | "America Is Changing Back to What She Used to Be" |
| CBS | |
| America Picks the #1 Song | "Take It to the People" | ABC | ||
| Growing Pains | "As Long As We Got Each Other" | |||
| The Third Annual NBC All-Star Hour | "One Big Happy Family" |
| NBC | |
| The 12th People's Choice Awards | "The People's Choice" | Brown | CBS | |
| 1987 [21] | Liberty Weekend: Opening Ceremonies | "Welcome to Liberty" | ABC | |
| The 59th Annual Academy Awards | "Sing Me the Song, the Song from the Movie" |
| ABC | |
| Jack and Mike | "This Love's for Real" | Nan Schwartz | ||
| Liberty Weekend: Closing Ceremonies | "Liberty | Remember, Rejoice, Renew" | Earl Brown | |
| 1988 [22] | Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas | "The Sound of Christmas" | ABC | |
| Growing Pains | "Swept Away" | ABC | ||
| Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC | "Comedy Ain't No Joke" | NBC | ||
| NBC Investigates Bob Hope | "A Man Is Innocent/Until Proven Guilty" |
| ||
| 1989 [23] | Beauty and the Beast | "The First Time I Loved Forever" | CBS | |
| Dadah Is Death | "In The Light of Our Love" |
| CBS | |
| Roseanne | "I'll Never Change My Mind" |
| ABC | |
| Sesame Street… 20 Years & Still Counting | "Look Through the Window" | NBC | ||
| Shining Time Station | "Start Where You Are" | PBS | ||
| Year | Program | Song | Composer / Lyricist | Network | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 [24] | From the Heart... The First International Very Special Arts Festival | NBC | |||
| Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer | ""I'll Be the One" | NBC | |||
| Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th Anniversary Celebration | "You Were There" | ABC | |||
| Twin Peaks | "Into the Night" | ||||
| 1991 [25] | Cop Rock | "He's Guilty | " | ABC | |
| Cop Rock | "Nowhere to Go, Nothin' to Do" | ABC | |||
| Life Goes On | "Bittersweet Waltz" | ||||
| The Lost Capone | "I Didn't Hear You" |
| TNT | ||
| Matlock | "Love and Justice" | NBC | |||
| 1992 [26] | Cast a Deadly Spell | "Why Do I Lie?" | HBO | ||
| The Carol Burnett Show | "Rock Out of That Rockin' Chair" |
| CBS | ||
| A Salute to America's Pets | "Love Without Strings" | ABC | |||
| The Walt Disney Company Presents the American Teacher Awards | "We Have Come to Learn" |
| Disney | ||
| 1993 [27] | Liza Minnelli Live from Radio City Music Hall | "Sorry I Asked" | NPT | ||
| Blind Spot | "Good Things Grow" | CBS | |||
| Bob Hope: The First 90 Years | "Where There's Life, There's Hope" | NBC | |||
| The Heights | "How Do You Talk to an Angel" | Fox | |||
| I'll Fly Away | "State Until You Come Home" | NBC | |||
| 1994 [28] | Trisha Yearwood: The Song Remembers When | "The Song Remembers When" | Disney | ||
| Carol Burnett: The Special Years | "One Lucky Lady" |
| CBS | ||
| The Corpse Had a Familiar Face | "Something Is Out There" | ||||
| Murder, She Wrote | "The Game's Not the Same" |
| |||
| The Simpsons | "Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart?" | Fox | |||
| The Tony Awards | "Celebrate Broadway" | CBS | |||
| 1995 [29] | Barbra Streisand: The Concert | "Ordinary Miracles" | HBO | ||
| Cagney & Lacey: Together Again | "All the Days aka Rooftop Source" | Nan Schwartz Mishkin | CBS | ||
| Robbie Robertson: Going Home | "Pray" | Disney | |||
| A Season of Hope | "For a Love Like You" |
| CBS | ||
| The Simpsons | "We Do (The Stonecutters Song)" | Fox | |||
| 1996 [30] | Bye Bye Birdie | "Let's Settle Down" | ABC | ||
| Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree | "The Perfect Tree" |
| CBS | ||
| People: A Musical Celebration | "Children of the World" |
| Disney | ||
| The Simpsons | "Señor Burns" | Fox | |||
| The Walt Disney Company and McDonald's Present the American Teacher Awards | "Come on In" | Disney | |||
| 1997 [31] | The Simpsons | "We Put the Spring in Springfield" | Fox | ||
| Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh | "I Wanna Scare Myself" |
| CBS | ||
| Centennial Olympic Games: Opening Ceremonies | "The Power of the Dream" | NBC | |||
| "Faster, Higher, Stronger" | |||||
| Mrs. Santa Claus | "Mrs. Santa Claus" | CBS | |||
| 1998 [32] | The Simpsons | "You're Checkin' In (A Musical Tribute to the Betty Ford Center)" | Fox | ||
| The Closer | "You Don't Know Jack" |
| CBS | ||
| Mr. Show with Bob and David | "How High the Mountain" |
| HBO | ||
| | "Hearts Are Hurting" |
| Syndicated | ||
| "The Love of Your Love" | LoDuca | ||||
| 1999 [33] | AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies: America's Greatest Movies | "A Ticket to Dream" | CBS | ||
| Home Improvement | "We've Got It All" | Dan Foliart (music & lyrics) | ABC | ||
| Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular | "Freedom Dot Com" |
| FX | ||
| "Places in the Heart" |
| ABC | |||
| You Lucky Dog | "Togetherness" |
| Disney |
| Year | Program | Song | Composer / Lyricist | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 [34] | Nickellennium | "Up to You" | John Kimbrough | Nickelodeon |
| The 14th Annual American Comedy Awards | "My Bill Gates" | ABC | ||
| AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars | "Without You" | CBS | ||
| Family Guy | "We Only Live to Kiss Your Ass" | Fox | ||
| Freedom Song | "Song of Freedom" | TNT | ||
| 2001 [35] | Yesterday's Children | "A Dream That Only I Can Know" | CBS | |
| AFI Life Achievement Award A Tribute to Barbra Streisand | "On the Way to Becoming Me" | Fox | ||
| Dancing in September | "Welcome Back (All My Soulmates)" |
| HBO | |
| Gary & Mike | "Mole Folks Song" |
| UPN | |
| Robert Klein: Child in His 50s | "Colonoscopy" |
| HBO | |
| 2002 [36] | Family Guy | "You've Got a Lot to See" | Fox | |
| The Carol Burnett Show: Show Stoppers | "A Mackie Rag" |